Real Estate Talk and Views

The local realestate maket expectations have settled down.  If you are selling you know that the game has changed. If you are buying you are looking to pay as little as possible.  The power roles have changed is all. Buyers have what seller’s want. Seller’s have what buyer’s want, well if it is the right price. And the bank has what both buyer and seller want. The Money! In between the desire to sell and to buy there is often what is called a “Short Sale.”
I am reminded of the children’s story of The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and the moral of that story, “better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.”  What does that have to do with real estate?
Ask anyone going through losing their job, their home, their dignity.

Our local newspaper comes out daily except Saturday and it has always been the local joke amongst the old timers, “looked in the obits today and I wasn’t there so I am doing okay, still lookin’ down at the sod.”  What has changed is that they still look at the obits but they go to the back of the paper and look at the list of foreclosure notices and notice of defaults list too. And they think to themselves, “whew, made it through another day.”

While it is not funny, at all, there are some lessons here that will shape how we think of how we get and spend money, from now on, for this generation at least.  My dad, Dean, was a Realtor during the 50’s and 60’s here in Livingston County.  He would say that “people always pay for their houses first”  it was the most important bill that they had. Still is today.  Home mortgages and home values should, in a perfect world, be the same and with the value going up and the mortgage going down. We love it when equity goes up and mortgages go down, don’t we? But when equity(what the house is worth) is lower than what is owed, we think of that as a disaster. We think of it as a ‘right’ a God given right that the mortgage balance should always be lower than our homes value.  Personally, I think that this is not good reasoning at all. A home is a place to live and to be safe and secure, warm and nouishing and all of that. But  is not a valid “investment” at all in the normal sense of profit and lost, at least for the short term.

And, if we can afford to live there, no matter what, the mortgage payment comes first. If we can no longer afford to live there, then we do have to find a solution. It may be a short sale. ” But what if they come after me with a deficiency?” you may ask.

So, let them come. But before than happens, negotiate with the lender as best you can first, let your Realtor do this for you. And, if you just can’t pay that deficiency, if there is one assesed at all, and there is a huge possibility of that not happening, as the very very last resort, you have to use the most powerful tool the borrower has in their “rights” bag and that is for you and your attorney to decide and discuss.But, do not use that as a way to stop your problems, only when all else has failed.

About Bill Park.  Bill Park has been a licensed Realtor in  Michigan since 1986. He is an advisor on real estate matters that pertain to the buying and selling of homes, land and commercial property.People hire him to advise, advocate and negotiate on their behalf.  He is a professional distressed property negotiator and expert. He assists home owners who are upside down in their house value and mortgage debt with disposing of the property and negotiating an agreement with the lender and the property seller to reach a settlement on the amount owed. He also assists buyers in how to find and negotiate a short sale property. To contact Bill Park, reach him by email at  billpark@kw.com

Buying a home in Livingston County Michigan has never been easier or better.  Now notice I did not say that “anybody” can do it.  But practically anybody can do it.

                  ONE TO GET READY-TWO CHECK OUT THE MARKET-

                         3 GO PAST GO AND  COLLECT $8000.00        

ONE TO GET READY-Besides having a credit score in the mid 600s you need to have a debt to income level that will allow the lender to lend you the money you need to buy. In other words, you need to be qualified by a lender BEFORE you get too serious and spend a lot of time shopping.

House prices are still declining but not as much as they have previously. In our area we are seeing the average price, that is highs and lows mixed and averaged, at about $127,000. That is down from about $147,000 at this time last year. It still is not all about price though. As I have said before, location and condition are huge factors.

                                                 THREE MARKETS AWAIT THE “READY BUYER“

2 -CHECK OUT THE MARKETS-Basically, as I see it, there are 3 markets and they change quickly nearly everyday as well priced properties are selling quickly. The foreclosure market, short sale market and the non shortsale market. Let me explain how each one works in general.

The foreclosure market are BANK OWNED Assets and well priced ones go in less than 30 days so you have to move fast and be working with an agent who can get you there. The bank does not look at these places as “homes” just assets. They have spent time and money having the asset looked at, made secure and appraised by professionals to give that far away lender “feet on the ground” and “eyes on” analysis. It is on an “as is” basis. Yet buyers come in and make even lower offers trying to steal a steal. Usually they will miss one or more before they get one. Why? Oh, for several reasons. The main one is that they want to bid too low and somebody else comes with a higher offer. Happens all of the time. If you want it then my advice is bid very close if not a little over asking.  And, have your paperwork in order from a lender who is also someone you can talk with. Most agents will roll their eyes when they hear you are working with an Internet lender some where in I-CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU LAND or at least out of state. Trying to get the lowest rate on a mortgage is not always the smartest thing to do. I’ll take a local mortgage officer anyday.

The short sale market is a market that “tries men’s and woman’s souls.”  You will hear that it takes a long time for a short sale to go through, and it will. Usually 10 to 12 weeks to get through all of the phases. So if you want a great buy on a home that is warm and comfy inside, take care of and usually not beat out to kingdom come, then a short sale is the way to go. But if you are a time line and need to get into a house quickly, I would say no, this is not for you. Like a foreclosure, the lender has two or even 3 BPO’s or Broker Price Opinons on the property.  What this does is give them a good idea of what their “Asset” is actually worth. Remember to that this sale will be subject to their approval, and if there happens to be a second mortgage on it, they have to okay the transaction and possibly the home owner may say no to the banks proposal to them. Some times the bank wants their pound of flesh from the seller and the seller can say “no” I am not going to agree. Not always but some times. So, again you have to decide, am I a very patient person who has all of the time iin the world or am I in a hurry.

Finally we get to the “non” foreclosure or short sale.  This is usually someone who owns their home out right or they have a small mortgage. Once in awhile they are willing to bring cash to closing to finish paying off the bank. These homes generally are very nice and the seller, although they want to sell, are not going to compete with the foreclosure or short sale. There is a premium on these and they usually can do better than the others. Why? No waiting, get it now, and sometimes they will have some pretty nice stuff that they are willing to include. Sometimes, not always.  In a few sales I have noticed that they are more likely to counter offer and sometimes aggressivly. They are willing to fight for their equity. So if you try a low offer on one of these do not be surprised or offended if they come back at full price or very close to it. 

3 TO GO PAST GO AND COLLECT YOUR TAX CREDIT- Hey there is only about 90 days left to claim you tax credit on a purchase of new home by a first time home buyer. If you have owned a previous home for at least 5 years, you can also qualify for a tax credit with some qualifying conditions up to $6500. So if you would like to reach me to talk about your situation, I am generally available to do that. You can reach me on email at billpark@kw.com.  I HAVE A GREAT website AT www.parkplaces.comwhere I have plenty of search tools.  I will do a property analysis for you providing you are not working with another agent under-contract and you are in my market area which is primarily the Western suburbs of Metro Detroit and includes Ann Arbor and north to the Southern part of Genesee County and the western part of Oakland County. See you at the closing table.

With so many people looking for job opportunities you would think that a natural place to look would be sales, real estate sales. Some may think it too risky to get into real estate, especially now with all the negative news about foreclosures and the “tough market.” But it is the right time to get into a new real estate career.

And, if you are organized, can get focused on results oriented activity, are reasonably good with people, you probably should look into a career in real estate.

First comes the training to get a license. Every real estae agent in Michigan, for example, has to be licensed and work under a Broker.  The training is 40 hours of class work, a license exam and then you need to get with a company. It is kind of a dual process. You should be interviewing about the time that you are getting ready to take your classes. Makes it easier to have a place to go to once you have passed the State license test.

What would a good company look like?  Remember, you have a license and that will give you a little idea about the rules and laws, but you still have to learn all of the daily things that make a career worth having. So the company really needs to be “learning based.” Most large companies got that way because they trained a lot of people. So talk to some of the agents. Look at the availability of on-line training so you can study outside the office.

In our office, we have a mentor program where a new agent is buddied up with an experienced agent mentor. This is backed up by training programs that organize information to get you up and running as quickly as you can. That mentor stays with you through 4 transactions, helps you write your listings, sales contracts and generally becomes “best friend” material.

The only way a real estate company becomes successful is through the people that work there.  I work for Keller Williams and I can be reached at 810-534-2005 or billpark@kw.com for questions.

Home Shoppers are getting more savvy. They go to real estate shopping school as they troll the net. But then, unless they are moving across the country instead of across town, they can focus on a “target” area.

About a year ago or so, I added “map tracks” to my web site at www.parkplaces.com .  I know how to do all kinds of real estate stuff but working on my web site is not one of my favorite things. But, map tracks has made life so much better.  Buyers can search anytime, 24-7 if they want to.  I love to work with these savvy buyers, they are much better sorting through the tons of opportunities on line and selecting the ones they like. I get an email when they find something and we can talk about what THEY are finding.

These new programs will even zoom down to the street level so you can see what roads the houses are on.  You can move the search area around, save it and then come back to that search later. 

I have the car gassed up ready to go so you can use my search site and my gas to really make this a fun.  You need to save your money for the down payment!

In January I will post some numbers, but for right now I want to talk about the activity. It looks like we are on the move. Literally. Buyers are finding that the “staples” of Livingston County Michigan have not changed. Oh, property taxes are down, there is a lot of moaning going on about governmental and school budgets being trimmed, but I am telling you that there is a smell in the air that is unmistakeable!  It is the smell of OPPORTUNITY!

We still have great schools, excellent shopping, and miles of trails and parks and some of the best lakes in Michigan. And people are saying, “hey, this IS what we have been looking for.

For example Rod and Carol, moving from Canton (have a leased condo they came from) to Conway twp 1800 sq ft 5 year old home on 2.5 acres for under $180K.  Kendall and Collen moved from a 900 sq ft rental to a 1700 sq ft, 5 year old home in Towne Commons for under $150K. Incidently both of these homes would appraise at twice that in a decent market.  In the last 5 closings they all came from rentals. Now that IS something. Don’t know if that makes a trend but for me, I’ll take it. 

Do like these folks did and use my web site at www.parkplaces.com click on the map and up will pop opportunity.  My typical buyer using that resource will come back EVERY DAY for 30 to 120 days and collect lots of favorites. They become really good shoppers and it makes it fun to work with them.

Fall is in the air and football is a weekend event here in Livingston County.

Most of my teams won this weekend. Howell High won, MSU won and Gleaners won.

Gleaners? The Food Bank doesn’t have a football team do they?  No, but they have Fans that are “Fans.” Let me explain.  Keller Williams Realty, my office, holds a food drive every now and again and Gleaners is the charity that gets the benefit. But we have a good time doing it.  This year it was the MSU (Michigan State University) vs: U of M (University of Michigan) Fans in our office.  Winners of that food fight were the ones that could bring in the most boxes, cans and bags of non-perishable foods.  The winners were to be served a tailgate lunch on Friday before the game. Well the U of M fans won. Yours truly was on the MSU team so I poured the beverages (soft drinks only) to that gloating bunch of UofM fans. Well Saturday came and “he who gloats loudest, gloats last!”  My team, MSU, won the game. 

More importantly though, Gleaners will get nearly 900 boxes of food!  Last year we had over a 1000 boxes. I think we should go into over time and make it at least a 1000 this year. My guess is that we will!

A Closer Look at Local Real Estate News

with Bill Park,

The Good Stuff

Obviously it is easy to “awfulize” the economy, the market and general plight of many people. But being a “serial optimist” I want to take a look at the “good stuff,” the great opportunity in real estate today.

SALES ARE UP 47%↑

Real Estate sales, for example, have been trending very nicely upward. In June 2009 Real Comp reports show that sales increased in Livingston Count by 47% compared to last year.  Good news? I would say so.

COMPETITION IS DOWN↓

Listing inventory has declined. Good News?  Again, in my opinion yes as “would be” sellers hunker down to wait it out, it clears the way for bargain hunters to “clean out” the inventory of foreclosed homes and short sale.  Actually about 35% of the sales in June were not foreclosures. I had sales that were not myself.

GOOD DEALS GOING FAST

First time home buyers are snapping up the deals with and are aggressively in pursuit of the first time home buyer tax credit

SELLERS WORKING SMARTER TO SELL!

Sellers who are paying attention to putting some time, effort and money into staging and preparing their homes are doing better in the amount of time it takes to sell and are getting top of the current market pricing. HG-TV is a big help also, having a stager, a pre home inspection and a landscape consult are big helps.

$$$INVESTORS MAKING MONEY!$$$

For investors, they have never had it so good. Investing in real estate for the past few years yielded modest returns due to high prices in this market.  Now, the economy of investment has returned.  For example picking up at $60,000 property and renting it for $800 per month would yield a gross dollar return of $9600 annually.  That’s a gross cash on cash return of 16%. After expenses of taxes and upkeep, it is still healthy.  Sure there are risks, but for the investor with cash, I can get them going. Cash is king right now.

For more information on real estate investing check out the Millionaire Real Estate Investor and Flip.  I have copies of the Millionaire book at $15.00 each. Also available on Amazon.

AVOIDING FORECLOSURE-I CAN AND DO HELP!

Finally, getting your own home sold and moving on.  Some times hardship brought on my business failure, down sized job, loss of job, divorce, health and many other issues of our time, make it seemingly impossible to avoid foreclosure.  These are the times that I may be able to offer help in working you through the details of what to do. Maybe I can even help hold the damage to your credit to a minimum.  If we can go with a “short sale” the lender pays the fees and we get your debt “settled” so you and your’s can start anew.

This blog was written by Bill Park, Associate Broker Keller Williams Realty Brighton Michigan. Reach me at billpark@parkplaces.com  or 810 534 2005

In my 23, going on 24 years of finding homes, moving families and building memories, I don’t think we ever expected or anticipated the current conditions.  It has been the perfect “economic” storm for most home owners.  But instead of “awfulizing” it, upon examination my mission in real estate is still remains the same.

WHAT IS MY MISSION?

To serve my real estate clients as an adviser, advocate and negotiator.

To  find my sellers a  new buyer.

To find for my buyers their new dream home.

In a nutshell, here are my services as they are for sellers and for buyers:

FOR SELLERS

Listing-Marketing-Negotiating-Closing

FOR BUYERS

Qualifying-Searching-Finding-Negotiating-Closing

How have these services changed?

For one thing I am not the same Realtor® that I was last year or the year before.  Why? Experience.

We are in a world of 3 markets for Sellers.

“Normal”

“Short-Sales”

“Foreclosure Redemption.”

And I could add a forth, Mortgage Modification Coaching.

For sellers who are in trouble, my experience in getting successful short sale solutions is to be talking to your lender from the first time you are not able to make a mortgage payment. New rules indication you get an additional 90 days to work out a new mortgage plan. My advice is to do this, see if it can work for you. I can’t emphasize that enough and get in touch with me EARLY when you sense that you heading for trouble.  Why do this even if you do not plan on staying in your home?  Time, it will usually stave off the foreclosure sale and allows us time to get it sold, even if it becomes a short sale. By the way, in a short sale you will not get any revenue from the sale, the lender will pay for the commission and closing costs.  What we hope to accomplish for you is a “settled” debt without having a foreclosure on your credit report.

For buyers who are shopping for a “good deal” and a dream home at the same time you need someone who will work for you to get you through the “Amazing maze” of details in buying.  HUD Sales, Short Sales, Foreclosure Sales, Estate Sales, Special Property Sales…doing “DUE DILIGENCE” …you need an expert on your team that will navigate  your purchase once that you have decided which property you want to buy.

Bill Park, Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty
billpark@parkplaces.com

The good news is that it takes less time to sell a home today than it did a year ago.  Bad news is if it is not priced right it may sale some day but not very quick. 

June 2009 in Livingston County saw a 47.4 % gain for the month in sales, which was tops for all of the reporting areas in southeastern Michigan.

Why all of the sudden is this “surge” happening?  Part of it is that the prices on prime homes have dropped and the foreclosures and short sales on top properties have made housing more affordable. And don’t forget the $8000.00 tax credit which ends December 1, 2009.  So the rush is on.

Financing is available.  Also there are a few land contracts showing up.  Not many but a few.

The news for real estate purchasers and investors is good over all and there are tons of homes ready and waiting.  For a full report please refer to my web site at www.parkplaces.com under “Statistical Reports”

Bill Park is an approved short sale specialists and handles short sale and short sale consulting for buyers and sellers.

 WHO STEPS IN WHEN HELP IS NEEDED?

Who steps in when disaster strikes?   Besides the Local, State and Federal responders, our local Red Cross is always there.  Big events, little ones, if first responders are called out, our Disaster Assistance Team and vehicle are there to serve.  The DAT team takes care of the victims of fire and storm, flood and catastrophic events. They provide warmth, clothes, food and money for the immediate needs.  For the first responders it can be hot drinks or cool drinks to rehydrate, dry socks, gloves and energy snacks.  It is an amazing group.

Who steps up to help when it comes to donating funds?  This is another amazing part.  All year long the chapter puts on monthly Mission Tours.  An hour long intro to the inner workings and stories about the Red Cross Mission here in mid Michigan.You are invited to join me on one of these tours. They are free, a lunch is provided by a local donor sponsor and it takes ONE HOUR.  Call Me at 517 404 5714 to find out more. Or visit http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org50439.jsp